You Will Need:
- One cup of cold water
- Food colouring (optional)
- One Teaspoon
- Psyllium husk powder
- A microwave-proof bowl
- A microwave
- Adult help.
Pour the water and food colouring into the bowl and mix.
Add some psyllium husk powder and stir until it until the mixture had combine.
Microwave on high for 5-9 minutes, the longer the heating process, the more rubbery the flubber gets. After the initial 2 minutes the goo tends to rise and overflow, stop the microwave each time it starts to do that and restart it after a few seconds.
Be careful – the mixture will be hot!
Cautiously, and with the help of an adult, remove the bowl from the microwave and tip the content out onto a plate and let it cool.
After it has cooled, pick up the slime and play.
Get the Unit of Work on States of Matter here!
- What are the different states of matter?
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How does the flubber slime form?
Psyllium is a type of seed, and its outer shell or husk is often used as a dietary fibre supplement (Metamucil, for example), or as a food thickener. The psyllium husk contains mucilage, or a gel-forming polysaccharide. This stuff is hydrophilic, which means it loves binding to water and therefore water-soluble. When you first combine the water and the psyllium husk powder, you may notice that it gets thicker and thicker. This is the mucilage at work! This flubber is made up of a colloidal suspension of a liquid (water) dispersed in a solid (psyllium husk particles). We then use heat to speed up the rate of dispersion by blasting the mixture in a microwave. If it overflows, don’t worry! It’s very easy to peel off and stuffed back into the bowl again, just use cutlery since it’s super hot! The resulting slime, once cooled, is cold and clammy to the touch, but comes off relatively clean. It does not self-heal, so after it has broken or been cut, it is difficult to stick the pieces back together again.
Note: While this slime is edible, mass consumption is not recommended. Check the label on your psyllium husk powder to find serving suggestions.
For more slime recipes, check out our comprehensive guide to SLIME!
Variables to test
- Change the heat of the water. Does it make a difference?
- Change the amount of psyllium husks that you use.
- Grind the psyllium husks in a coffee grinder vs adding them whole
- Does changing the power setting on your microwave change the consistency of the slime?
From colour changes to slimy science, we’ve got your kitchen chemistry covered!
Get in touch with FizzicsEd to find out how we can work with your class.
Slime, Sherbet & Bubbles
Years K to 2
Maximum 30 students
School Workshop
60 minutes
Online Class Available
STEM Full Day Accelerator - Primary
Designed from real classroom experiences, this modular day helps you create consistently effective science learning that directly address the new curriculum with easily accessible and cost-effective materials.
This is fantastic! Any tips on storage? Will it last for a few days in the fridge? Many thanks.
Hi Joanne!
This slime will last a day or so before it dries out if you refrigerate it (it’ll keep longer if you store in an airtight container with plastic wrap around it). In regards to it being edible, we’d treat this as not that much different to a salad as it’s primary ingredient is psyllium husk… we wouldn’t recommend storing it for eating longer than a day. Have fun with it!